THE VINEYARDS
One must be seriously audacious to succeed in winegrowing.
To work in wine is to work incredibly hard. It is physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. It requires deep knowledge in agriculture, science, and business with an instinct for what comprises fine art. It takes vision, patience, grit and being on the right side of serendipity, often. And, it is as equally uplifting as it is heart breaking, as preparedness is no guarantee of success.
This understanding finds truth in the founding of Croix Estate and where we find ourselves in this moment: the founding vintage and establishment of Croix Estate in 2012, the opening of our winery in 2018, and the steadfast continuance to achieve perfection in the glass annually.
The initial concept of Croix was a quixotic collage of random ideas and wines: shock-art labels, uncommon grape varieties, uncommon wine regions, no wine made more than one vintage, and on it went from idea to idea, most of which were done, being done, or being re-conceptualized by many of others in search of repurposed uniqueness within the winemaking community. Rather than chase a creative, newly used concept, we determined to distill the purpose of Croix into a fundamental pursuit of perfection.
It was in the winter of 2010, during a blind tasting of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from multiple, global wine regions, that a pursuit became obvious and clear for Croix: How do we enter the crowded space of highly talented, luxury Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producers and consistently produce wines that will make a lasting impression? Furthermore, how do we make Pinot Noir that will age beyond a decade’s time?
It is tempting to spin a narrative of glorious successes we have experienced from day one with producing our first experimental vintages of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to present day. However, the humble truth is this: our first Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays left more questions than answers as it related to directional purpose and long-term outputs.
Growing and producing wine bottled as Croix Estate needs to meet the highest standard of excellence if we are to be deemed worthy of participating in one of the most demanding and historic segments within our winegrowing community. Hence, the long and deliberate path we have taken from concept to this day.